My Keloland colleague and NSU colleague emeritus, Professor David Newquist, has this on the Iraq war at his original blog:
A friend who served in the military the same time I did spotted a pickup in a parking lot while we were chatting that carried a bumper stick that said support our troops by supporting Bush and his war on terror. My friend fumed over the absurdity of supporting a leader who tosses away the lives of soldiers as if they are used nose tissues. ...They are insisting that Iran will start World War III, and they are using the phony nuclear weapon scam again. I don't think we can wait for a year to get these maniacs out of office, he said.
I would be curious to learn that the Iranians aren't trying to get nuclear weapons. I suspect this would come as a surprise to the Iranian theocrats, the North Koreans, and pretty much every leader in Europe. I am even more interested in what my colleague's friend thinks we can do about Bush's next year in office.
As it happens, I spent an hour this afternoon talking to a Marine Staff Sergent in my living room. Staff Sergent M spent a year in Iraq. He was part of a helicopter crew, responsible for all of the protective equipment for the rest of the crew, as I understand it. He was guardedly contemptuous of the way the Press reports the war in Iraq, and was proud of the role he has played in his country's service. I don't think he would have appreciated the remarks in the quote above.
A reasonable person might certainly conclude that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. Only an adolescent, or someone stuck in permanent adolescence, would blame the war on "maniacs" in the White House. What the Staff Sergent put his life on the line to serve is a Republic. President Bush secured the support of Congress before he launched the invasion. You may recall that Hillary Clinton voted to give Bush permission to do so. So did John Kerry, before he voted against it. It was not George W. Bush who invaded Iraq. It was the United States of America.
So where are we now? Here is the New York Sun on the maniacs running the Republic:
The People. United. Can in fact be defeated. Well not exactly, but this must be what America's anti-war movement is thinking as Congress and the president iron out the funding for the war with no danger of the Democrats attaching a withdrawal date to the bill. The Dems don't have the votes.
The Democrats control both houses of Congress. They have the power to bring the troops home. All they have to do is refuse to fund the war. So why don't they do so? They do not do so because then they would be responsible for the outcome. If the US withdraws from Iraq too soon, the result will be a real civil war. And that will produce an Iraq controlled either by Iran or Al Qaida. So they continue to support President Bush. But that means that they share responsibility for his policy. In case you are wondering, that is what a Republic looks like.
I have nothing but admiration for my Staff Sergent acquaintance and his comrades in arms. They have chosen to serve a genuine Republic, and among human institutions, there is none more worthy of allegiance.
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